How to perform backlink gap analysis (using templates)

Backlink gap analysis is the process of finding huge links that competitors do not have. It involves evaluating the quality of your competitors’ backlinks and determining whether similar links can also improve your website’s SEO.

This process can help you:

• Quickly find quality links
• Improve authority in the field
• Close gap with competitors

In this guide you will learn how to use our Backlink Gap Analysis Template Find relevant high-quality websites worth contacting.

1. Determine that performs better than your competitors

Copy Backlink Gap Analysis Template. Then search for your website in AHREFS website Explorer and navigate to your organic competitor:

Check the Domain Level (DR) column to identify competitors with higher authority than you and similar size to the website you have.

Put this competitor list in a convenient situation as you need the next step.

2. Find domain names that link to not link to your competitors

Open AHREFS’s competition analysis tool and set it to “reference domain”

Where you say “target not ranking”, please add your website. Below this, add your competitor list:

Then click Show Link Opportunities to see a list of competitors’ ranking sites, but you don’t.

3. Improve data to delete low-quality links

You can easily remove most low-quality links by applying some filters.

First view the domains linked to all competitors you entered. If the website links to all the competitors, not to link with you, then you may be worthy of the link from it. These will be your high priority link goals.

You can also check the domains that will be linked to at least two competitors later. These will be your mid-priority link targets.

Next, you can only view the “dofollow” domain:

If your linked target list is still quite long, try setting the domain level (DR) filter to at least 50:

Or domain crossing filters are at least 1,000:

You can adjust these values ​​or adjust them down based on the results you get in the report.

4. Analyze the correlation of each domain

Even with these filters applied, your competitors will always have links that are not related to your brand or industry.

To delete them, first evaluate the first domain in the list.

Open the website to learn about its content. in the case of:

• Has nothing to do with your industry
• Not a business directory
• Not a high-quality website that can build your brand

…Don’t add it to your exploration list. Continue to the next field and repeat this evaluation process.

5. Add relevant domains to link gap analysis templates

For each website you determine the relevant content, you may get a link from it, add it to your copy Link Gap Template.

Focus on filling in columns:

• Pages/Website: Add a domain here.
• Domain Level (DR): Add the authoritative score of the domain.
• Domain traffic: Add traffic to the entire website.

You will find the data in these columns in AHREF:

You can also fill in general columns, for example:

• status: Think of it as “propaganda”.
• Priorities:
  • High = All competitors have links from this field
  • Medium = More than two competitors have links from the field.
  • LOW = Only one competitor has links from that domain.
• Link Target: Add the page you want to link to on your website. If you are not sure about a specific page, just add the home page.

Your team can fill in the remaining columns during the exploration and outreach phases.

Currently, continue browsing the domain list and only the relevant domains are added to your list.

6. Repeat the process to find the exact reference page that links to your competitors

Some link building strategies work better by adding backlinks to existing posts rather than creating new content that contains links.

In this case, when you contact the editor and the website owner, you must provide the exact page you want to request the link.

To find such pages, switch the link intersect report to the “Reference Page” mode:

Then, repeat steps 3 to 5 to add each related page to the link gap analysis template.

The final thought

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